Minister: Police targeted by information war

The police are targeted by an «information war,» Interior Minister Ihar Shunevich told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

He was answering a question from a correspondent of the government-controlled newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya about his reaction to videos of police officers' controversial actions and photoshopped images poking fun at police that have flooded Belarusian websites recently.

Mr. Shunevich said that most critical posts and media articles about police were «constructive.» «But there is a certain share that, in my opinion, is nothing but an information attack on the activity of such an organization as the interior ministry,» he said. «This is an information war waged against the interior ministry.»

«We have done and will continue doing our job in an as much competent manner as possible. And if there is an obvious violation of law, law enforcers are required to respond to that. And if we are criticized for an incorrect response and this criticism is constructive, we are always ready to take this criticism with much joy and interest.»

Mr. Shunevich warned that the police would sue members of the public for «provoking, insulting [them] or trying to portray our incompetence through destructive means.»

In his question the reporter also claimed that «police officers' politeness is mistaken for weakness,» to which the minister replied, «The police do not look helpless, it is certain reporters who portray them as such.»